Injuries having big impact on some NBA teams

There were 67 players on official NBA injury reports on Saturday morning, with ailments ranging from Jeff Green’s heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurism to Jason Kidd’s sore lower back, with a notation he was expected to play Saturday against the Kings after missing a week.

Some of the injured, Spurs point guard T.J. Ford among them, cite the short training camp and compressed schedule as a contributing factor — in Ford’s case, a longitudinal tear of his left hamstring.

“You have to think that played a role,” he said.

Whether or not Ford is right, the four to six weeks he will miss will have a major impact on the Spurs. They will play an average of four games in each of the six weeks he will miss if his absence is on the far end of the projection.

That is an undeniable difference between the post-lockout season being shoehorned into 121 days and a full 82-game season played over nearly six months.

Injuries to All-Stars have major impact. Here is a look at early injuries that could have the greatest long-term effect:

Zach Randolph, Grizzlies
Injury: Torn medial collateral ligament, right knee
Date incurred: Jan. 1
Projected absence: Six to seven weeks
Impact: Randolph was a double-double machine for the Grizzlies last season, and with fellow big man Darrell Arthur already out for the season, his loss threatens their ability to return to playoffs.

Dwyane Wade, Heat
Injury: Sprained right ankle; bruised left foot; left calf strain
Date incurred: Jan. 13 (sprained right ankle)
Projected absence: Unknown
Impact: Relieved when X-rays showed no break, Wade said of latest sprain: “It never hurt like that before.” He’s already missed three games with other injuries, and Heat may decide to give this injury time to heal, even in midst of three-game losing streak.

Brook Lopez, Nets
Injury: Non-displaced stress fracture, fifth metatarsal, right foot
Date incurred: Dec. 22
Projected absence: Six to eight weeks.
Impact: An even greater impact than losing his play was the effect it had on trade talks with Orlando that might have landed Dwight Howard.

Al Horford, Hawks
Injury: Torn left pectoral
Date incurred: Jan. 11
Projected absence: Three to four months
Impact: An All-Star big man, Horford was one of Atlanta’s most consistent, reliable players. It’s hard to imagine the Hawks finishing in the top four in the East without him.